RHEL 10 must use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo".
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-281210 | RHEL-10-600550 | SV-281210r1166582_rule | CCI-002038 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| If the "rootpw", "targetpw", or "runaspw" flags are defined and not disabled, by default the operating system will prompt the invoking user for the "root" user password. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2026-03-11 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-281210r1166582_chk)
Verify RHEL 10 sudoers security policy is configured to use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation with the following command:
$ sudo grep -irE '(!rootpw|!targetpw|!runaspw)' /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.d/ | grep -v '#'
/etc/sudoers:Defaults !targetpw
/etc/sudoers:Defaults !rootpw
/etc/sudoers:Defaults !runaspw
If no results are returned, this is a finding.
If results are returned from more than one file location, this is a finding.
If "Defaults !targetpw" is not defined, this is a finding.
If "Defaults !rootpw" is not defined, this is a finding.
If "Defaults !runaspw" is not defined, this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-85676r1166581_fix)
Configure RHEL 10 to use the invoking user's password for privilege escalation when using "sudo".
Define the following in the Defaults section of the /etc/sudoers file or a single configuration file in the /etc/sudoers.d/ directory:
Defaults !targetpw
Defaults !rootpw
Defaults !runaspw